Three weeks into the new year and many of us will have already strayed from our healthy eating plan and said sayonara to our resolutions - but for those of us still clinging to the bandwagon, TikTok can always be counted on as an infinite pool of inspiration.
To help serve up some much-needed inspiration, a fitness coach-cum-TikToker has recently shared a delicious and healthy lunch idea that takes less than two minutes to make and only consists of a handful of ingredients, a meal she said she ate every day while working a corporate job. Look, as someone who burns rice and can barely scramble an egg successfully, my interest is piqued.
Brisbane-based health coach Bec Hardgrave, 27, shared the recipe with her almost 140,000 followers last week, declaring it a "90-second hot girl lunch".
"I think I ate [this] for about two years when I worked my corporate full-time job," she prefaced.
Firstly, Hardgrave took a packet of Ben's Original tomato and basil rice, which is ready to eat in 90 seconds.
"While that cooks, we're going to make the rest," she said, placing the packet in the microwave.
Next, she adds a can of drained tuna - the light variety in olive oil - to a bowl of packet salad, which appears to be a mix of lettuce, carrot and red cabbage.
Hardgrave then adds the microwaved rice, noting she only uses half a packet at a time and saves the rest for the next day.
To finish the meal, she dresses the salad with a splash of soy sauce and a drizzle of mayonnaise before mixing everything together.
"Chef's kiss," she declares, shoving a forkful into her mouth.
The simple recipe has since been viewed almost 210,000 times, with many thanking Hardgrave for a welcome serving of inspiration.
"Why does everyone who works an office job eat tuna haha, it's like an unspoken rule," one viewer joked.
"Hear me out: kewpie Japanese sesame dressing," a second suggested.
"I've been needing to replace my go-to lunch with something else... this sounds like it slaps!" another weighed in, with a fourth agreeing: "Just made this. [It] SLAPS. Bravo."
Many were shocked at how similar Hardgrave's tuna-rice recipe was to their own staple weekday lunch, with some sharing their adjustments and recommendations.
"That's almost identical to the salads I would eat too! I would add some chopped walnuts and sometimes would add leftover meat instead of tuna," one said, with another adding: "Sriracha mayonnaise. I'm obsessed. Basmati, steamed fresh veg, tin of salmon, sriracha mayo and avocado. Boom! So good!"
Hardgrave also recently won her viewers over with a video that shared how to recreate the iconic McDonald's baguette from Emily in Paris, using just five ingredients. The McBaguette, which has been re-released in French branches due to its popularity, is simple to make at home, the 27-year-old said.
To make the sandwich, Hardgrave added shredded lettuce, Jarlsberg cheese and Béarnaise sauce - similar to a Hollandaise - to a sliced baguette. She then prepared some small patties with lean beef mince and fried them, before adding two to the baguette. Voila!
